Coldest Christmas in decades for Americans: Over 1 million without power as winter storm hits
Thousands of flights were cancelled, and at least four deaths were reported due to the Arctic storm blasting from near the Great Lakes
A massive winter storm continued to wreak holiday plans for Americans during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.
Thousands of flights were cancelled, and at least four deaths were reported due to the Arctic storm blasting from near the Great Lakes.
Weather forecasters said the massive storm over the Midwest had materialised into a 'bomb cyclone'—a phenomenon caused by a drastic, rapid drop in atmospheric pressure that forms a kind of cold-weather hurricane.
More than 8,000 flights were cancelled on Friday, reported tracking site FlightAware, with more expected as temperatures drop over the weekend.
About 500 flights into or out of Seattle's major airport were axed as a separate storm system brought ice and freezing rain to the Pacific Northwest, Reuters reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that major air pressure changes associated with this storm will trigger high winds at airports from Boston down to Atlanta.
The treacherous weather has also affected road traffic, leading to accidents including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio that left at least one person dead.
Officials of New York's Buffalo area have instituted a driving ban.
Road travel issues have also heightened due to a shortage of snow plow operators. Train and bus services have also been severely hit.
Major courier delivery services including FedEx, the US Postal Service and Amazon have alerted customers about disrupted services which also means that last-minute Christmas presents won't be delivered on time.
The rising demand for heat due to the numbing cold, along with damage caused by heavy snowfall and storms, have strained the energy systems in the country.
By Friday evening, 1.2 million customers had no electricity across the US, according to PowerOutage.us, sources reported.
The National Weather Service says more than 100 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken over the next few days, with several decades-old temperature records already been matched.
The US National Weather Service has warned people they faced frostbite within minutes, hypothermia and death if they stayed outside too long.
Canada has also been heavily affected by the adverse weather conditions, with an estimated 4,10,000 people currently without power, BBC reported on Friday.
